Tea vendor waives off money owed by Gaja-hit customers

TRICHY: Even as governments in some northern states have announced loan waivers to cash-strapped farmers, a tea vendor in Pudukottai waived off the entire amount his customers have owed him over the past few months.
His kind gesture comes in the aftermath of Cyclone Gaja which destroyed almost all the assets and farm crops of his customers, leaving them unable to pay him back.Writing off Rs 15,000, shop owner S Siva Kumar, has not just helped his struggling friends, but won back the customers who avoided him for fear of repayment.
Equally destructive was the cyclone for Siva Kumar too as the strong winds took away the name board of his Sri Bhagavan tea shop, of Vamban village in Alangudi, and wrecked significant damage to the stall. However, the 38 year old chose to reopen the shop without the name board a few days ago, but failed to get the customers.
Realising the low turnover, he chose to place a small name board with an announcement to waive off all the money people owe him till December 18, 2018. “It was disheartening to learn that many of my customers were skipping my shops as they owe me a few hundreds and they are not in a position to repay it,” said Siva Kumar a father of three.
A farmer himself, he gave up farming a decade back to run a tea shop with his father Sivaraman, 65. While Vamban and adjoining villages are known for flower cultivation, farm labourers settle their dues in shops every Friday, when they sell their produce.
Some prefer to clear the pending amount at the end of every month for the tea and snacks they consumed from the shop throughout the month.
As agriculture is badly hit by cyclone, people have to start from scratch. Though they are returning to farmlands, they are not able to repay the money they owe Siva Kumar.
“Not that we do not want to repay him, but we do not have anything left after cyclone,” says S Sundararajan, 45, a farm labourer who owe Siva Kumar close to Rs 250. “But Siva Kumar being one among us has realised it and decided to help us,” he said.